To increase foot traffic, the Coventry Mall in North Coventry Township has added professional wrestling, in the form of the World Wide Wrestling Alliance, to its offerings, writes Jim Vasil for WFMZ 69 News.

A shuttered shoe store has been turned into a makeshift arena with nearly 400 fans showing up to the shows on select Saturdays. They are often joined by new fans carrying their shopping bags.

“You’re walking through the mall shopping and all of the sudden you’re like, ‘Oh, wow. There’s wrestling tonight? I have to go see that,'” said pro wrestler J.T. Cage.

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Mall officials say this is one of the steps they have taken to combat the ongoing decline of retail stores that is causing malls across the country to close. Now, wrestling has become a unique draw for Coventry Mall.

“Every second Saturday, we do wrestling, and this weekend, we have an indoor car show,” said Nicole Bartholomew, Director of Marketing. “The more unique the event is, the more I want to do it.”

Read more about the latest addition to Coventry Mall at WFMZ 69 News here.

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